1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable intelligent communications device and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for visually monitoring the status of a telephone call on such a portable intelligent communications device.
2. Description of Related Art
A new class of communication devices has been developed which includes a full computer integrated with the communications hardware and software. These devices, known as portable intelligent communications devices, differ significantly from personal digital assistants (PDAs) and handheld personal computers (HPCs) in that they are designed extensively to be a communications device rather than merely a "mobile computer." As such, the top features for the communications device are telephony, enhanced telephony, messaging, and information services. In order to enable at least some of these features, the communications device is able to be connected to the Internet by either a wired link or a wireless link. It will also be understood that certain software applications are provided within the portable intelligent communications device to facilitate the aforementioned features, as well as other desirable features such as a Personal Information Manager (PIM), games, and the like. An exemplary portable intelligent communications device is shown and disclosed in a patent application entitled "Switching Of Analog Signals In Mobile Computing Devices" and having Ser. No. 08/796,119, which is owned by the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference.
It will be understood that the aforementioned portable intelligent communications device is targeted to the traveling business person. Due to the time required to connect calls, particularly with respect to remote locations, it is oftentimes helpful for the user to know the current status of a phone call. To the extent prior solutions have existed, they have involved drop down lists or tables, which are inherently cumbersome and inefficient. Thus, it would be desirable for a communications device to provide some manner of easily monitoring the status of a phone call.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method in a portable intelligent communications device for monitoring the status of a phone call from the portable intelligent communications device to a destination location.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method in a portable intelligent communications device for visually monitoring the status of a phone call being connected.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method in a portable intelligent communications device having color coding for visually monitoring the status of a phone call being connected.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method in a portable intelligent communications device for visually monitoring the status of a phone call being disconnected.
These objects and other features of the present invention will become more readily apparent upon reference to the following description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings.